The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Vehicular traffic congestion is a condition on traffic networks such as highways that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, increased vehicular queuing, and decreased fuel efficiency. The most common example of traffic congestion is the physical over-capacity use of roadways by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough, the interaction between vehicles slows the speed of the traffic stream, congestion results. As demand exceeds the capacity of a roadway, extreme traffic congestion occurs. The condition resulting when vehicles are fully stopped for periods of time is colloquially known as a traffic jam.
Generally, traffic congestion occurs when a volume of travelers/commuters generates demand for roadway space greater than the available road capacity. This point may be termed saturation. A large percentage of traffic congestion is recurring and is attributed to the sheer rise of travel demand, and most of the rest of traffic congestion is attributed to traffic incidents, roadwork, and weather events.
Attempts at solving traffic congestion have included adding more highways, widening highways, adding various traffic controls, providing flexible work hours for employees, incentivizing carpooling, providing real-time traffic monitoring, and tolling highways. However, each of these proposed solutions have one or more defects in terms of their effectiveness, feasibility, cost, and the like.